Ideally I see myself printing in batches every month or two, I'm wondering if I should be concerned about the heads clogging with this infrequent use? I've read that it's a problem with EPSON printers but less so with Canons, so I'm wondering if anyone has real world experience with this. The printer is in a remote office location which I only visit infrequently, so printing more frequently is not really an option, unless I taught someone else there how to print, which is possible, but not preferable unless necessary.

canon printers constantly prime the nozzles, so most leave the printer on all the time is normally the best way to operate them. I'm not sure what "best practice" is on how long the printer will sit unused and thus should be turned off vs leaving it on all the time, but I know many just leave the printers on 24/7.

All of these printers clog, and if you turn the printer off for a week or two frequently, logic says there will be more clogs, but from an end users perspective you really won't notice or realize they occurred, because the printer will remap the clogged nozzles to spares.

Infrequent use may consume the spare nozzles a little faster than more frequent use requiring the heads to be replaced, but I don't think it will be anything extreme.

From an end users perspective you don't need to run anything through either my 8300 or my HpZ3100, as long as they are left plugged in. I hear them starting up and doing nozzle checks throughout the day and monitoring the heads. That is the beauty of their design. They don't do head cleanings unless they are necessary, but if they are necessary they do them automatically. When I am out of town for up to several weeks or even a month, I just leave them plugged in and they are ready to print the minute I start them up.

I'm finding with my Epson 9890 the nozzles stay pretty much clear but I need to run something through it every couple of days to avoid having to spend time doing checks and cleanings. I've learned my lesson with this printer, print every couple of days or else. But with the thermal printers like the Canon I don't even think about it, that is the printer's job.

It's a pretty sophisticated management routine that Canon ipF's follow. Because I sit next to mine I hear it run "Agitating", "Checking humidity and Temperature", "Nozzle Checking" at various intervals during the week.

Plan to replace the heads in about 2 years based on your usage. I do monthly batch printing in ipf8300 when I am getting for the next art show. My heads lasted roughly 2 years. It did not hit the limit of usage, but the age. I left it on for the entire 2 years.